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June 30, 2011

Honeyed Fruit Preserves

This recipe came about by
accident but its a happy accident and may end up being one of my
favorites. I bought some plums and peaches last week. These are my
favorite fruit and I'm always tempted when they first show up in the
stores. I should know better. These fruits are smaller and often mealy
or sour. Sometimes they don't even have much taste. But I didn't want to
throw them out, so I decided to try to save them in a jam. They were
also very ripe which I think is what ended up making this a good jam.

I
also had a big bag of cherries that I pitted last yr. I remember
sitting on my back deck in the sun all day doing those. I forgot about
them till now. I don't want to lose them so I decided to toss some in
this jam. It was a good idea. The combo of fruit tho was very tart. I
didn't want to just add sugar tho, I wanted more flavor. So I taste
tested some fruit with honey in a sm. dish. Good idea!

The honey
enhanced the peaches so they tasted more peachy. I wanted more tho. So I
added a touch of vanilla to it and found that the cherries tasted more
cherry like too. I often add a touch of vanilla to the end of my jams. I
find it mellows the flavors. You could can these in smaller jars. I
just used the pts. because it was all I had here right now that I had
lids for. But honestly the cherries stay whole and I think smaller jars
would just end up with all cherries . The cherries do make this a
nice rosy colored jam.

Honeyed Fruit Preserves Makes 4 pts.

5c. of juicy peaches, plums and cherries, must be very ripeJuice of one lemon1 tsp. butter1 box of low sugar pectin1c. honey1/2 tsp. vanilla

At this point I hope you have your jars ready and the water bath canner boiling.

Peel
peaches and plums, remove pits and cut into chunks. Rather than add
juice to this recipe as Ball suggests, I suggest using very ripe fruit
so it makes its own juices. Pit cherries if they are fresh. I had frozen
ones ready to use. I used about 3c. peaches and plums, 2c. cherries for
this recipe. Mix together in a lg. pot and turn on heat.

Add lemon juice and stir. Add
pectin and stir well. Bring to a hard rolling boil you cant stir down.
When you reach that point add the honey and stir well. Bring back to a
boil and boil 2-3 min. Skim foam if it appears. Add vanilla and stir
well. Take off the heat. Fill jars, wiping rims well and top with lids.
Water bath 10 min. Let sit in water bath canner for 5min. more to ensure
a good seal. Remove and put on a towel on your counter to cool. Check
seals and store.

Don't panic when you see how
loose it is after canning. I was afraid perhaps the pectin wasn't enough
because it actually was more watery after canning than before. But I do
know many times it takes some time to jell........sometimes up to two
wks. So I let these cool overnight on the counter and this morning they
are fine. So give it time if you see that with yours.

Published recipe in...

Country Living Magazine

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About Me

Jack of all trades, been a chef, cooking teacher and Im also an herbalist. Been a mom, gramma, friend, and wife, now onto the next phase! Im divorced and live with my boyfriend. We have finally landed in Oregon after trying to get here for several yrs. These blogs will log many of the things about this move, my recipes and more.